Moore and company shut out Ducks 9-0

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EUGENE, Ore. – Andrew Moore tossed a two-hit shutout and Michael Conforto and Ryan Barnes each hit solo home runs to send the sixth-ranked Oregon State baseball team to a 9-0 win over No. 10 Oregon Saturday afternoon at PK Park.

The Beavers evened the series with the shutout, which was the team’s 10th of the season and second of the year for Moore, who improved to 11-1, becoming the Pac-12 Conference’s first 11-game winner. The victory pushed the Beavers back ahead in the chase for the Pac-12 Championship, and now lead the Ducks by one game.

Oregon State (42-9 overall, 21-5 Pac-12), up 2-0 after seven, scored five in the eighth and two more in the ninth for the convincing win. The nine-run victory margin was the largest between the teams in a game that counts toward the Pac-12 standings since Oregon (43-12, 20-6) reinstated its program in 2009. It’s the second-highest overall.

“This was a very important bounce back win for us,” head coach Pat Casey said. “We battled through five tough innings against a very good starter in Cole Irvin. We were focused today and it showed.”

Moore held Oregon to just two hits – a double by Ryon Healy in the fourth and a single by J.J. Altobelli in the sixth – while walking one. He only picked up two strikeouts, with both coming in the eighth.

Pitching in his hometown of Eugene for the first time at the collegiate level, he did so in fine fashion, and in the process, set the Oregon State freshman record for victories in a single season, surpassing Sam Gaviglio’s 10 in 2009.

Moore also pushed his earned run average to 1.34 on the year.

The teams were embroiled in a scoreless tie through six but Conforto lofted a home run over the left field fence in the sixth off Irvin. Barnes did so in the seventh as well to put the Beavers in the driver’s seat, 2-0.

Then came the eighth inning. Oregon State sent 10 batters to the plate with Barnes and Danny Hayes highlighting the inning. Hayes hit a two-run single and Barnes tripled to right for three of the inning’s five runs. Andy Peterson, who went 4-for-4 with a walk, also drove in a run during the inning, which he followed in the ninth with another RBI.

Peterson’s four hits led the Oregon State offensive attack, which finished with 12 hits off four Oregon pitchers. Hayes and Barnes each had two hits as well.

Irvin took the loss and dropped to 10-3 on the year. The Oregon lefty allowed six hits and two runs with a walk and three strikeouts in seven innings.

The teams complete the series Sunday at 12:05 p.m., with the game slated to air live on the Pac-12 Networks.